Musings of a life without a car in California, well at least San Francisco Bay Area/Silicon Valley. Full of tips, observations and impact of automobiles on our lives.
Check out the links to the right for resources and tips for reducing car usage. Get Active! Start Moving on your own energy! You can contact me at carfreeincalifornia@mac.com

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Save the thermostat, save the world.

Or something like that. The New York Times David Leonhardt explores the "paradox of thrift"

McKinsey & Company recently analyzed household spending on energy, for example, and found enormous waste. People heat their homes when they are not there and, thanks to leaks in their walls and heating ducts, also heat the airspace above their roof.

A programmable thermostat, which adjusts the temperature when people are out of the house or asleep, can cost as little as $50. For less than $1,000, people can buy the thermostat, as well as hire a contractor to fix leaks and replace their light bulbs with more efficient ones. In either case, the spending often pays for itself in just a year or two.

“There is a difference between consuming and investing,” says Ken Ostrowski of McKinsey. “And energy efficiency falls more into the category of investing.”

So get out there an invest, buy a programmable thermostat. Save the economy, save the world. Another great investment is to invest in services, get a massage or ten instead of buying a flat screen TV. Borrow some board games, and have a fun night out with your friends and family.

The definition of investment is that which returns beyond your outlay. Learn a skill, learn an instrument, read to a kid. The investments are out there, we just have to discover them.

1 Comments:

i don't have a programmable one, but i just push the stick all the way to the left when i leave the house, and i do it at night also and just pile on the blankets. i also tend to leave it "off" when i'm home alone -- i watch tv under a heated throw.

this horrified my coworker, who not only leaves it at 70 all day FOR HER DOG, but also turns on her electric throw blanket for him so he can lay on it and be cozy.